Different at the Core: Distinguishing Between Laminates and Veneers

With growing industry demand for building materials that offer durability, versatility and minimal maintenance, laminates and veneers have emerged as a popular choice for designers and specifiers. While used for similar purposes, laminate and veneer have markedly different attributes – such as their performance, availability, lifecycle and cost.

Laminates Versus Veneers: Understanding the Difference

Veneer is an engineered timber product comprised of a thin slice of timber adhered to a backing sheet of medium-density fibreboard or other engineered substrate. Due to its real timber surface layer, veneer has the aesthetic qualities of natural wood, but also some of its drawbacks including a tendency towards scratches and elevated maintenance requirements.

Laminate is a composite comprised of a core of resin-impregnated Kraft paper, a decorative face paper material, and melamine resin-impregnated overlay. High pressure (HPL) and compact laminates have Kraft paper cores of varying thicknesses. Low pressure/melamine-faced board laminate does not have a core.

Lasting performance

Testing indicates that laminates are highly durable, outperforming veneers in terms of wear performance and scratch resistance. The shock absorbent cores of HPL and compact laminates offer a high degree of impact resistance, making them suitable for high-wear areas. By comparison, an unprotected veneer surface is prone to dents, scratches, impact damage and moisture damage.

Cost effectiveness at all stages

Laminates are generally more cost-effective than veneers when considering materials, longevity and ease-of-maintenance. The price of veneers depends on the timber species being used, while elevated maintenance requirements such as the need to reapply protective surface coatings drive up the overall lifecycle cost.

Versatility and breadth of design opportunities Modern laminates offer face papers that are virtually indistinguishable from natural timber, while offering customisation of surface features like texture and gloss. Veneers are limited to the qualities of the particular species and can only be used in low-wear areas due to being susceptible to surface damage.

For over 50 years, Wilsonart has led the global laminate market with its diverse catalogue of stylish, highly functional laminate surface solutions. Renowned for its quality and innovation, Wilsonart has a presence in over 100 countries worldwide. The Wilsonart portfolio ranges from affordable laminate panel solutions, compact laminate for high-wear areas to marker board laminate and laminates featuring fine metal finishes.